Abstract

The ‘One Country, Two System’ formula under which Hong Kong was reunified with China in 1997 was heralded as a blueprint for Taiwan’s reintegration with the Mainland. However, integration has provoked fears of ‘Mainlandization’ i.e.: (i) the HKSAR’s increased economic dependence upon the PRC; (ii) the undermining of its core freedoms, rights, and values, and interference with the rule of law; (iii) the subordination of its culture; (iv) the weakening of its political institutions; and (v) the deterioration of everyday life. Strong anti-Mainland sentiments have now arisen in the HKSAR, alongside a minor secessionist movement. What lessons for Taiwan can be drawn from the HKSAR’s experience?

About the speaker

Professor Carol Jones is based at the University of Wolverhampton's School of Law, Social Sciences and Communications, and she previously held a Chair in Law at the University of Glamorgan. She has worked in Hong Kong, and has been a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University. Professor Jones is an expert in socio-legal studies, and her first book, Expert Witnesses: science, medicine and the practice of law (1994) won the Hart prize for best book in Socio-Legal Studies. She has since become a specialist in East Asia, and she is the co-author of Criminal Justice in Hong Kong (2007). She is currently writing a book about law and order in China.

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